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Budget divides Adams, Hannon Commentary By PETER WONG SALEM -- A vote in the Oregon Senate last week demonstrated just how far apart the Rogue Valley's two Republican senators are on resolving the state budget impasse. The immediate winner was Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, whose district takes in southwest Jackson County. The Senate voted for his resolution, which put a majority on record against proposals by Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber to raise corporate income taxes and retain surplus personal income taxes to boost state aid to public schools. "This is about politics and policy," Adams said in a rare speech on the Senate floor. "I can't get to the policy until I cut through the crap of politics." Sen. Lenn Hannon of Ashland, the Senate's senior Republican, was one of just four votes against the non-binding resolution. He said he would have voted with Adams if the resolution had been limited to opposition to higher corporate income taxes. But as a Democrat in 1979, Hannon was one of five senators who opposed the "kicker," which triggers refunds of income taxes if collections exceed projections by more than 2 percent. The provision was contained in legislation for a property tax relief program that voters ratified in 1980 but is now defunct. "You might say that my votes don't always rationalize themselves," said Hannon, who switched parties in 1980. "But at least I try to maintain stability in my voting. It was wrong in 1979; it is just as wrong in 1999." Hannon said if the Legislature chooses not to spend a projected $194 million in excess income taxes, it also cannot boost state aid to schools beyond the $4.725 billion that House Republican leaders want. "This is a nice palm tree for a lot of people to hide under and keep out of the hot sun," he said. "That hot sun is public pressure that says we want more for schools. If you are seeking shade, vote for this measure." After the debate, Sen. Tom Hartung, R-Portland, said: "Whether he is a Republican or Democrat, the senator from Ashland is good for a `no' vote." Hannon is one of four members still in the Legislature who voted on the 1979 bill that contained the "kicker." Voting for it were Hartung, who left the Senate in 1983 and returned in 1995; Sen. Cliff Trow of Corvallis, the Senate's senior Democrat, and Sen. Mae Yih of Albany, then a representative. (Trow has introduced a bill to abolish it.) Though he voted for its final passage, John Kitzhaber, now governor, voted against a version of it while a state representative from Roseburg. As a first-session senator in 1993, Adams voted to retain $18 million in surplus corporate income taxes to balance the budget, rather than refunding the money to businesses. Stephen Reno, president of Southern Oregon University, had just finished an eloquent statement about the Legislature's need to reverse a decade-long trend of declining state support for the university system. He spoke last week to the Legislature's joint budget subcommittee on education, whose only Southern Oregon member this session is Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass. "I'd like to say some nice things about President Reno, too," Wilson said, "especially if he could get a couple of incompletes off my transcript from the fall of 1970." In that same vein, Sen. Randy Miller, R-Lake Oswego, recounted a conversation with Dave Frohnmayer, a Medford native and former legislator who has been president of the University of Oregon for five years. "He told me that a student with my grades probably would not qualify for admission today -- and that's good," said Miller, a subcommittee member, as the audience laughed. Admissions standards are set by the state Board of Higher Education. "Are you implying that you have made it?" Rep. Randy Leonard, D-Portland, said teasingly. "I am suggesting there are some who might," Miller replied. The public will have a chance to comment on bills affecting check-cashing and car-title loans, as described in the business section of Thursday's Mail Tribune. The Senate Business and Consumer Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing at 1 p.m. Wednesday in Hearing Room C. The agenda is subject to change; call the committee office at (503) 986-1754 or 986-1473 first. Senate Bill 284 would have the broadest application. It would require separate state licensing by the Department of Consumer and Business Services of businesses that advance money against paychecks or other post-dated checks, or against the value of cars. Oregon has 99 offices, eight of them in Medford, that offer "payday loans." Seventeen offices statewide, none in Jackson County, offer car-title loans. Twenty-six statewide offer both. Most have opened in the past year. Senate Bill 850 would put car-title lenders under Oregon's pawnbrokers law, which would limit interest charges and require them to possess the cars until borrowers repay the loans. Senate Bill 851 would bar such loans by consumer-finance companies. Chairman David Nelson, R-Pendleton, said he wants to air the issues publicly even if none of the bills advances from the committee. Reach reporter Peter Wong in the Mail Tribune's Salem bureau, 503-588-8826. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA